Six fishermen rescued from sinking boat, Harbor Patrol says

Three of six men rescued Sunday morning by Harbor Patrol officials after their fishing boat began taking on water off the North Coast head back to shore with Deputy Harbormaster Bryson Drake at the wheel.

NORTH COAST - Six men were rescued from a sinking boat off Greyhound Rock on Sunday morning after heading out from the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor to fish, Harbor Patrol officials said.

The men were in an 18-foot power boat that belonged to one of their sons when one called 911 about 8:30 a.m. to report their boat was sinking, Deputy Harbormaster Sean Rothwell said.

Coast Guard officials advised it would be about an hour until they could make it up from Monterey, so Harbor Patrol deputies from the Santa Cruz harbor took off in their 28-foot patrol boat, reaching the group in about 40 minutes, Rothwell said.

Dispatchers had gotten an approximate location from the phone and a Coast Guard helicopter that was in the area helped them find the boat by hovering above it, he said. It was about two miles off the coast from Greyhound Rock, he said.

The men were OK, though a couple were cold and nauseous, he said.

Rothwell said it is unclear what got them in trouble, in part because there was a language barrier.

"But they were way too far away for a little boat like that," he said. "And the conditions were rough out there. I'm guessing they took a wave, it was sloppy and it probably swamped them."

Coming back was "brutal," he added.

State Parks officials assisted as well, in a personal water craft, he said, and Vessel Assist towed the boat back.